Automatic draft control



Feb. 23 1926.

I. E. STEELE AUTOMATIC DRAFT CONTRQL Filed March 12, 1925 flag 6566 1e,

PATENT OFFICE.

.m E. STEELE, 0 sroux crrY, IOWA.

AUTOMATIC naar'r common.

Application filed March 12, '1925. Serial "No. 15,054.

To: all whom it may concern:-

' Beit known that I, IRA .E. STEELE, a citi zen of the United States,residing at Sioux ful Improvements in Automatic Draft 'Controls; and Ido declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to. make.

and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements inmeans for controlling .the' draftof stoves and. furnaces, and it also has reference to devices foradmitting air into the smoke outlet passage, to by this means, check thedraft.

It is the object of the invention to provide a simple and inexpensive,yet an effective and reliable automatic damper of a self-closingsuction-opened type, said'damper being adapted to remain closed untilthe draft through the smoke out-let passage reaches a pre-determinedstrength, whereupon. the suction created by such draft, willautomatically open the damper and admit atmospheric air, so that-thedraft is checked.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subjectmatter hereinafter described and claimed, the description beingsupplemented by the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is an outer side elevation of an automatic damper constructedin accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view as indicated by line 22of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontalsectional view on the irregular -line 33 of Fig.1..

In the drawing above briefly described, the numeral 1 designates aportion of a stack, chimney, or other smoke outlet from a stove orfurnace, said passage having an opening 2 which is preferablyrectangular. Secured against the outer side of the passage 1, around theopening 2, I have shown a flat rectangular frame 3 whose upper sidemember is provided with a horizontal flange 4 to engage the upper edgewall of the opening, while the lower side member 5 of the frame isprovided preferably with a similar flange 6" to engage the lower edgewall of the opening. The vertical side members 7 of the frame 1 arepreferably provided with inwardly extending vertical flanges 8 whoseinner edges preferably decline toward the inner surface. of the side,member 5 and mergeinto the latter. The inner side of this member 5 is.provided, above; the flange 6;, with a, plurality (preferably two.) ofin tegral. lugs 10" which extendinwardly and upwardly, thebaserperti'ons: of'these lugs being downwardly spacedfrom. the upperedge of. the side member 5. Preferably, the lugs 10; are i'gwardlyspaced from theflanges 8, as shown in dotted: lines in Fig.1 andillustrated also in Fig, 3.

A substantially vertical damper plate 11 is provided to. close the frame3, under ordi nary circumstances, said plate preferably having asharpened lower edge 12 which rests upon the lugs 10, at theirjuncturewith the, lower side member f the aforesaid frame. This plate isadapted to'close outwardly against the inner edge of the flange' 4i andthe inclined edges 9 of the flanges 8, and to normally hold the plate inthis position, I have provided it with a depending arm 13 whose upperend is riveted or otherwise secured to said plate, as indicated at 14:.The arm extends to the outer side of the frame and the passage 1, and issuitably weighted, for instance, by a weight 15 having an adjustingscrew 16. Vhen the weight is properly adjusted, while it will hold theplate 11 closed under ordinary circumstances. whenever the draft throughthe chimney or the like is sufiicient to overcome the a;tion of theweight, the

suction created by such draft will automatically swing the plate 11inwardly as shown in Fig. 2, thus supplying a quantity of atmosphericair to the smoke outlet passage and consequently cutting down the draft,

with the numerous well known advantages.

Preferably, the plate 11 is provided with integral inwardly projectingears 17 which engage the outer sides of the lugs 10 to hold said lateagainst sliding in the direction of its pivotal axis. Thus, there is nopossibility of the vertical edges of the plate scraping on the verticaledges of the openings 2 and interfering with proper opening and closingof said plate.

As excellent results are obtainable from the details disclosed, they arepreferably followed. However, within the scope of the invention asclaimed, modifications may of course be made. I

I claim:

1. An automatic damper for a stove or furnace smoke outlet passagehaving an air inlet opening, said damper comprising a frame whose lowerside member is provided with a plurality of horizontally spaced lugswhich extend inwardly and upwardly from said member, a plate having asharpened lower edge adapted to pivotally rest on said lugs, awveightedarm secured to the outer side of said plate and projecting below thesame in 'a plane parallel thereto, and inwardly projecting ears on saidplate, engaging said lugs to hold the'plate against sliding. in thedirection of: its pivotal axis.

2. An automatic damper for a stove or furnace smoke outlet passagehaving an air inlet opening comprising a framehaving upper and lowerhorizontal flanges and vertical side flanges the inner edges of whichdecline having its lower edge pivotally resting on said lugs and adaptedto engage the declined edges of said side flanges of the frame when theplate is in closed position and a weighted arm secured to the outer sideof said plate,

and projecting below the same in a plane parallelthereto, whereby theplate is normally held in closed position against the declined edges ofthe side flanges of the frame.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aflixed my signature.

IRA E. STEELE.

